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Date:      Thu, 9 Sep 1999 13:00:03 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu>
To:        freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re: misc/13665: xl driver does not work with 3C900 10-T cards. It only works with 3c90x 10/100 cards
Message-ID:  <199909092000.NAA02492@freefall.freebsd.org>

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The following reply was made to PR misc/13665; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu>
To: dave@dugard.org
Cc: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: misc/13665: xl driver does not work with 3C900 10-T cards. It only works with 3c90x 10/100 cards
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 15:51:36 -0400 (EDT)

 Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, dave@dugard.org 
 had to walk into mine and say:
  
 > >Number:         13665
 > >Category:       misc
 > >Synopsis:       xl driver does not work with 3C900 10-T cards. It only works with 3c90x 10/100 cards
 
 You know, I scream and yell and harrass people in an attempt to get them
 to provide accurate and detailed information when they file so-called
 bug reports, and by now I would have though everyone would have noticed
 the screaming and yelling and gotten the point. But nooooo....
 
 Well that's just fine. I can scream and yell all day. Just remember:
 you asked for it.
 
 > >Description:
 
 > Machine started rebooting
 
 What does it say when it reboots! Does it print a panic message?!
 If so, what!? What does it say when you do a verbose boot?! When exactly 
 does it reboot! Show us what it says on the screen!! Write it down! Set 
 up a serial console! Paint it on a cave wall! Chisel it into a stone
 tablet! Do *anything* besides just sit there like a bump on a log and
 complain that "it don't work!"
 
 You can't just say "the machine reboots." You have to provide a
 *DETAILED* description of what you observe. This means write down
 everything that you see: all the panic messages, all the error
 messages, all of the things that indicate something has gone wrong.
 Why? Because I can't see your computer from here, so if you don't
 explain exactly what happend I can't help you!
 
 > right after it looked at the NIC
 
 It's not "the NIC." It's a particular model. There are several 3Com
 10Mbps-only PCI cards; it's important that I know which one you have.
 The kernel tells you what model it is when it probes it, then you share
 this information with us so we know exactly what you're talking about!
 
 > after make world and then the kernel config.
 > After reading /sys/i386/conf/LINT about the MII bus device I guessed 
 > that it might be a problem with 3c900.
 
 Well you guessed wrong. I just compiled the -current xl driver and loaded
 it on my test box with a 3c900-COMBO:
 
 xl0: <3Com 3c900-COMBO Etherlink XL> irq 9 at device 13.0 on pci0
 xl0: Ethernet address: 00:60:08:08:f5:4a
 xl0: selecting 10baseT transceiver, half duplex
 
 Seems to work fine for me. This means that whatever your problem is,
 it's more complicated than you make it out to be, which means we need
 more information, which you didn't provide!
 
 Look: the one thing I can't stand is having to go several rounds of
 e-mail with people in order to painstakingly extract the details about
 their particular problem. People seem to think it's okay to just post
 a little blurb first and ask "does anybody have any ideas?", and then,
 after several hours of interrogation, then finally disclose more
 details. This is *WRONG*. You want to provide all of the details *UP*
 *FRONT* so people don't have to go tracking you down trying to get
 more information out of you! It wastes time!
 
 Now I want you to provide more information. I want you to provide it
 a timely fashion (i.e. within the next 24 hours, not next week or
 next month, or whenever you feel like it), I want it chock full of 
 details, I want it verbatim without any attempts on your part to 
 interpret, paraphrase or otherwise mangle it, I want it in complete 
 sentences and I want it in 80 columns or less. I don't want you to
 say things like "I can't remember" or "I forgot to write it down" or
 "I have to go to Fiji for a week, I'll try it when I get back." Take
 a memory improvement class, get a pencil and paper, cancel the
 reservations at the Fiji Hilton, put the card *back* in the machine, 
 recreate the problem and document the crap out of it!
 
 -Bill
 
 -- 
 =============================================================================
 -Bill Paul            (212) 854-6020 | System Manager, Master of Unix-Fu
 Work:         wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu | Center for Telecommunications Research
 Home:  wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu | Columbia University, New York City
 =============================================================================
  "It is not I who am crazy; it is I who am mad!" - Ren Hoek, "Space Madness"
 =============================================================================
 


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